


The Lord of Storm's End

by DeliriousRose



Series: As time goes by [1]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Eventually he succeeds. Eventually, Forgetting Arya is hard AF, Lord gendry baratheon, Post-Episode: s08e06 The Iron Throne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-19 21:05:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18978331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeliriousRose/pseuds/DeliriousRose
Summary: The first fifteen or so years of Lord Gendry Baratheon of Storm's End





	The Lord of Storm's End

The first year, everyone was too busy to even spare a thought about anything else.

Storm's End didn't have a lord for such a long time, and the new one was baseborn who knew (barely enough) his letters and numbers because he had apprenticed with a good master.

_“But just look at him and you won't doubt late King Robert fathered him,” the washerwomen tell to each other._

There was a lot to do, a lot to learn and Lord Gendry Baratheon dived head first into the work, trying his best to settle any matter troubling his people.

_“Looks like he is as dutiful as Lord Stannis but amiable like Lord Renly,” the steward says to the master-at-arms, who agrees._

Whenever he had spare time, the young lord could be found in the forge, especially after a particularly difficult meeting.

_“Listening to the steel sings under the hammer helps me clear my head,” he says to the maester._

And he was good at it, the oldest servants whispering that the lad would have made Master Noye proud, or envious.

When things started to settle into a loose routine, Lord Gendry called to Storm End's his old employer, Master Thobo Mott. The Stormlander lords were shocked to learn that their liege lord wished to finish his apprenticeship, even if he had no need to work.

_“Seldom young smiths vow to take no wife until their apprenticeship is accomplished. Perhaps Lord Baratheon is one of them?” the Septon muses one day._

During a feast, Lord Kellington japed about his liege lord’s hobby, adding that he should hammer something else than steel. If the jape stung, Lord Baratheon didn’t show it; on the contrary, he grasped the chance to announce that he and Master Mott would leave in a couple of moons for Qohort.

_“It’s the only place where I could learn how to work Valyrian steel,” Lord Baratheon explains to those objecting his decision, drawing gasps of surprise and admiration._

By the fifth years after the Fall of King’s Landing, Lord Gendry Baratheon was back at Storm’s End, bringing back his masterpiece. A weirwood distaff of unusual design, with blades of Valyrian steel attached to the ends. Upon seeing the weapon displayed in the castle’s armoury, Lord Davos Seaworth commented how it was an improved replica of the one wielded by Lady Arya Stark during the Battle of Winterfell.

_“It’s her design, not mine,” Lord Baratheon says with a forlorn voice, his fingers brushing along the distaff. "I wish I saw her use it..."_

_“I did, and what a sight it was,” Ser Davos replies, nodding._

 

Talk of marriage started in the first months of Spring. At first, Lord Baratheon pretended not to hear about it, yet in the eyes of the washerwomen, the pained expression on his face spoke volumes. Perhaps their young lord was still mourning for a lost lover, probably who had died during the Fall of King’s Landing.

When one milkmaid, a pretty lass with brown eyes and hair, was kicked out the Lord’s chambers never to be seen again, the rumour stated that, perhaps, the Storm Lord had the same preferences of his late uncle.

_“At least Lord Renly had the decency to marry,” Lord Trant snorts between his cups._

To celebrate the seventh year of King Brandon’s coronation, Lord Baratheon rode to King’s Landing. He didn’t take part in the tourney but was often seen in the company of Lord Seaworth and his family. Before returning to the Stormlands, he had a private conversation with the king: no one knew what they talked about, but witnesses claimed that Lord Baratheon left the king with tears in his eyes and sobbing like a child.

Upon his return to Storm’s End, he visited the sept every day, praying at the Stranger’s altar, until he received a raven bearing the king's personal sigil.

 

In the eighth year since his taking residence, Lord Baratheon started to regularly host his bannermen and entertain their daughters. At first, there was a rumour about marriage talk between him and his second cousin, Lady Cassandra Estermond, yet it went to nought. Then the young lord rode to Amberly and spend the night there a little too often: Lady Danella Rogers was said to look like Lyanna Stark, the woman his father went to war for; but her Northerner relatives claimed not as much as Lady Arya Stark.

On the ninth anniversary of the Battle of Winterfell, Lord Gendry Baratheon wedded Lady Allyria Dayne, sealing an alliance with one of the most powerful Dornish Houses. Before the end of their first year of marriage, the Lord and Lady of Storm’s End welcomed a son named Beric, after the late Lord Dondarrion. When some petty lords japed about naming his son after his wife’s former betrothed, Lord Baratheon when into a rage.

_“Lord Beric knighted me, and without him, the Night King would have never been defeated. But you don’t know about his bravery: you were safe in your fucking castles in the fucking South!”_

One year and a half later, the couple is blessed by the birth of a girl, Argella. The servants and the washerwomen had a shock the first time they heard their lord call his daughter “Arry”.

On their third year of marriage, Lady Allyria gave birth to twin brothers Robert and Thobo. Master Mott presented his former apprentice with a Valyrian steel sword, to be passed to his namesake.

On the fourteenth year of King Brandon’s rule, the Sickness stroke the kingdom. The only region not to suffer from it was Dorne, as it closed its borders as soon news of the epidemy reached Sunspear. Unable to return to Storm’s End, Lord and Lady Baratheon were guests of Princess Arianne Martell, since their eldest son and daughter were wards at the Water Palace. Despite escaping the Sickness, Lady Allyria died in childbed: her second daughter was named after her.

At the beginning of Autumn, Lord Gendry Baratheon left Dorne to attend the celebration for King Brandon’s namesday before returning to the Storm’s Land.

_“At least, with five kids_ she _won’t gut me for waiting for her all these years,” Lady Commander Brienne hears Lord Gendry tell the king with a mirthless chuckle._

 

**Author's Note:**

> I thought that Gendry, being the bull-headed smith we know, would take his sweet time to ~~attempt to~~ get over Arya, but in the end, with some little push and the right motivation, he'd get the family he wanted.
> 
> 1\. Finishing his apprenticeship is a good excuse to buy himself time, just like the "required" stay in Qohor (moreover, I don't think the Baratheon have an heirloom Valyrian steel sword like the Starks or the Tarly). No, he didn't vow to the Smith to stay celibate until he forget his masterwork, but the rumour is a good one.  
> 2\. Yes, the "pretty milkmaid" _is_ Arya in disguise, gone to Storm's End to check that Gendry _did_ marry a lady; although it's hard to say if what she saw made her wish to kick him or not.  
> 3\. Yes, the private conversation with Bran _was_ about Arya, but the details will be revealed in the companion piece about her.  
> 4\. When thinking about who Gendry could marry, an Estermond sounded a good choice, since they are relative through his grandmother Lady Cassana. As for the Rogers, Lady Branda was the sister of Lady Lyarra Stark: this would make Lady Branda's granddaughters look enough like Arya. In the end, I settled on Lady Allyria Dayne, because she seemed more likely to accept to marry a man in love with another, and also due to their connection through Lord Beric.  
> 5\. I believe that between Season 3 and 7 Gendry had plenty of time to come to terms and reunite with Master Mott who, considering his protectiveness toward his staff, could have acted as a father figure for Gendry in his teens.  
> 6\. I hesitated about making Gendry a widow or not, both options were interesting to explore in case of Arya's return, but then I thought that this ship needs a third chance XD


End file.
